Walgreens Buyer Finances Purchase With $2.6M Loan

WG Memphis Holdings on June 20 bought the property for $3.5 million, the same price seller Trio Investments LLC paid for it a decade ago. On July 5, the company filed the loan to accompany the purchase.

Built in 2000, the 13,833-square-foot, Class A retail building is situated on 1.8 acres at the northeast corner of Holmes and Riverdale roads in The Villages of Bennington Planned Development. The Shelby County Assessor of Property 2012 appraisal is $2.1 million.

Walgreen Co. entered into a 60-year lease for the site in December 2000.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

Hunt-Phelan Listed With Colliers for $2.9M

Downtown’s Hunt-Phelan house – a historic mansion at 533 Beale St. that hosted guests including Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson – has been listed on the market for $2.865 million with the Memphis office of Colliers International.

The 6.5-acre-property includes the 10,000-square-foot Hunt Phelan home, which houses a bar and restaurant on the ground floor and a five-room bed-and-breakfast inn on the second floor, plus a separate building of six condominiums, also part of the bed and breakfast.

The site has been in the family of the current owner, Bill Day, since it was built in 1828. Day inherited the home in 1992 from his second cousin and over the last two decades has made major renovations, including the addition of the Hunt Phelan restaurant, which earned a four-star rating and operated for close to six years.

Day inherited the Hunt Phelan home in a state of disrepair. He refurbished the home, brought it back to life, and is ready to move on to other ventures.

In a statement, he said further development while preserving its historical integrity is the best future option. He added that an investment has been made in drawings for the property as a hotel.

With the site already approved for either an 84-unit hotel or 123 condominiums, or some combination of the two, the likely buyer will be a hotel company or other investor interested in further developing the property.

The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, making it eligible for Historic Tax Credits. Additional tax incentives may be available through Tax Increment Finance zone for Triangle Noire via Housing and Urban Development and Housing and Community Development and through the Vance Avenue Choice Neighborhood Initiative.

Fewer Auto Closings Reduce US Unemployment Claims

The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits plunged last week. But a big reason was that some automakers skipped their traditional summer shutdowns to keep up with demand, leading to fewer temporary layoffs of autoworkers.

Sales of new cars and trucks surged in June, extending the auto industry’s rebound.

Automakers also began their Independence Day promotions early, lifting sales at the end of the month.

Weekly applications for unemployment aid dropped 26,000 to a seasonally adjusted 350,000, the Labor Department said Thursday, July 12. That’s the lowest level since March 2008. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell to 376,500.

Economists expect most of the decline to be reversed in the coming weeks.

“Take July with a grain of salt,” Jill Brown, an economist at Credit Suisse, said in a note to clients.

The auto shutdowns “often cause extreme volatility.”

Automakers traditionally close their plants for the first two weeks in July to prepare them to build new models and their employees file for unemployment benefits.

But Ford Motor Co. said in May that it would reduce its usual two-week closing to only one week. And Chrysler said May 3 that it would skip the shutdown entirely.

Applications for unemployment benefits measure the pace of layoffs. When they consistently fall below 375,000, it generally suggests hiring is strong enough to reduce the unemployment rate. They have fluctuated at or above that level since April.

At the same time, hiring has slowed sharply compared with the first three months of the year.

Employers added only 80,000 jobs in June, the third straight month of weak hiring. The unemployment rate was stuck at 8.2 percent.

Job gains have averaged only 75,000 per month for in the April-June quarter. That’s roughly a third of the 226,000 average monthly gains in the first quarter.

Employers advertised more job openings in May after a sharp drop in April, according to a government report released Tuesday.

That suggests the job market is stabilizing.

Still, more jobs are needed to lower painfully high unemployment and boost pay for those who are working. Wages have barely kept up with inflation over the past year, which has led consumers to pull back on spending.

– The Associated Press

Saint Francis Sleep Center Receives Re-Accreditation

The Saint Francis Sleep Center at Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis, 5959 Park Ave., has received a five-year re-accreditation from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM).

The AASM is dedicated to ensuring that those in the field of sleep medicine provide excellent health care and enhance the awareness of sleep as an important element for health, public safety and quality of life.

Saint Francis president and CEO David Archer said the re-accreditation recognizes the hospital as continuing to provide high quality care for patients with sleep issues.

Agricenter International Announces New Board

Gary Taylor, former president and CEO of Cargill Cotton, and Marjory Walker, director of communications, production and AV services at the National Cotton Council of America, will both serve three-year terms on the board.

Agricenter president John Charles Wilson said the organization’s accomplishments over the past year include improving its financial situation; hosting a one-megawatt solar array; and hosting an innovative trial program for sweet sorghum, sponsored by Biodimensions and the Bioworks Foundation.

– Aisling Maki

Innovative Financial Group Taps Leader for Local Office

Innovative Financial Group has chosen Andrew Stark to be managing associate of the firm’s Memphis office.

In his new role, Stark will be responsible for recruiting and developing new associates, developing and managing the strategy and direction of the Memphis office, and ensuring that the firm’s infrastructure effectively supports its financial representatives and clients.

In addition to insurance, Stark has extensive experience in wealth strategies and focuses on wealth accumulation and asset preservation for his clients. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia and has completed the Wealth Management Program through the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.